Footnotes

With a used copy of Claire Holt, Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1967 from the current collector

來源:直接購自亨德拉 · 古拿溫的第二任妻子努莱妮美國馬薩諸塞州私人珍藏

附現藏家提供之二手英文書，克萊兒 · 霍爾特，《印尼藝術：傳承與變遷》，康乃爾大學出版社，伊薩卡，1967年

'From the beginning, it seems, Hendra was painting people in contexts of work and play, in celebration, struggle and death.' - Astri Wright

The often-hailed quality of Hendra Gunawan to capture in all its resplendency and vividness the essential nature of Javanese life stems from the fact that the artist lived life amongst the subject of his works, and was entirely immersed and engaged all through his lifetime with the sights and events of the everyday. A realist painter with his own distinct and florid figural language, Hendra Gunawan excelled not only in grand historical themes, but also in creating highly recognisable tableaus of life such as in the present lot, The Puppeteer. The full range of colours used in each of his works - no doubt inspired by the elaborate decorativeness of Indonesian batik - is outstanding, particularly in how colours, not lines actually render his figures alive. The puppeteer hoists a figure of Petruk, a clown hero figure in traditional Indonesian puppetry. A woman, a boy and a girl, all three detailedly rendered, watch on enthralled. Hendra Gunawan is a master at framing such moment of pathos in everyday life in his paintings.

Although Hendra led a generally difficult life struggling as a professional artist, his works were already critically and popularly acclaimed in his lifetime. The Puppeteerwas acquired by the present owner of the painting in 1976, an American lady who spent 15 years living and working in various parts of Africa, Asia and South America with her husband. Throughout their travels, she came to know many local artists, supported them in their work, and collected quality and representative pieces of art, all the while developing first-hand appreciation for the significance and cultural distinctiveness of their artistic contributions. She came to Jakarta in 1973, and joined the American Women's Club, through which she was introduced to Nuraeni, the second wife of Hendra Gunawan, who was actively seeking buyers for the current lot. A portion of the proceeds of Gunawan's art sales was used to support aspiring Indonesian artists trained by Gunawan and other artists in his art collective. In 1976, she moved back to Massachusetts with her family, and brought The Puppeteer back with her where it has stayed with her until recently.

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